The Cheyenne River Youth Project® is proud to announce that the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Native American Youth at the Aspen Institute is highlighting the 24-year-old, not-for-profit youth organization on its website during the month of May. The “Highlight Program” can be found at www.cnay.org/HighlightProgram.html.
“Each month, the Center for Native American Youth highlights what it calls ‘an impactful youth initiative,’ and it does this to help provide support and increase awareness,” explained Julie Garreau, CRYP’s executive director. “It’s a tremendous honor for us to be featured this way, given the reputation of both the center and the Aspen Institute.”
Founded by former U.S. Senator Byron Dorgan, the Center for Native American Youth is a policy program within the Aspen Institute. It’s dedicated to improving the health, safety and overall well-being of Native American youth through communication, policy development and advocacy.
“The center seeks to bring greater national attention to the issues facing Native American youth, and it seeks to find solutions, particularly with respect to youth suicide prevention,” Garreau said. “Those issues, and their solutions, are near and dear to our hearts as well. In fact, in June 2005, I testified at the United States Senate Indian Affairs Committee’s Hearing on Youth Suicide Prevention in Washington, and D.C. Senator Dorgan chaired the committee at that time.
“For nearly a quarter century, we’ve worked hard to provide Cheyenne River’s youth with access to a vibrant, secure future,” she continued. “It’s a great honor to have our efforts recognized at the national level — especially given our common goals with the Center for Native American Youth at the Aspen Institute.”
Founded in 1950, the not-for-profit Aspen Institute is committed to fostering values-based leadership, encouraging individuals to reflect on the ideals and ideas that define a good society and providing a neutral and balanced venue for discussing and acting on critical issues. To do these things, it provides seminars, young-leader fellowships, public conferences and special events, and policy programs such as the Center for Native American Youth.
“What better way to ensure a healthy, secure society than to support our children?” Garreau reflected. “At the local level, through CRYP, we provide a safe haven and important youth programming for our children, and we provide critical services for their families. At the national level, the Aspen Institute and its Center for Native American Youth are doing the same thing — finding effective ways to provide a brighter future for at-risk populations.”
The Aspen Institute is based in Washington, D.C.; Aspen, Colorado, and along the Wye River on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. To learn more about the institute and its international network of global-leadership partners, visit www.aspeninstitute.org.
To learn more about the Cheyenne River Youth Project® and its programs, and for information about making donations and volunteering, call (605) 964-8200 or visit www.lakotayouth.org. And, to stay up to date on the latest CRYP news and events, visit the youth project’s Facebook “Cause” page. All Cause members will receive regular updates through Facebook.
The Cheyenne River Youth Project®, founded in 1988, is a grassroots, not-for-profit organization dedicated to providing the youth of the Cheyenne River reservation with access to a vibrant and secure future through a wide variety of culturally sensitive and enduring programs, projects and facilities that ensure strong, self-sufficient families and communities.